Yesterday I went back to the Wellington for lunch, to scout the place out. Verdict - lovely place to sit and have a pot of tea of an afternoon, but very pricey food-wise for what is largely pub grub, albeit very nice pub grub. I had whitebait to start and posh ham, egg and chips for main, both of which were good, but with coffee and a diet coke, the bill came to just under £20, which isn't cheap for a pub. Still, as I said, nice place to loaf and have afternoon tea :)

Today I went to the football where Stevenage managed to claw back for a 2-2 draw with Tranmere. We looked a bit ragged but our injury list meant that we didn't have any strikers available so there was an air of make-shift about the team. We didn't play particularly well so I was actually relieved we got out with a draw. The playoffs are still within reach but we need to start winning, not drawing.

Went to the kitchen earlier to cook pasta for tea, got the water on, it was nearly boiling and....I realised I was out of pasta. *facepalms* This is such an unusual event in my house that it never occurred to me to check if I had any! So there was an emergency store run where I discovered that apparently a Good Friday 2 hours before the store closes is a pretty good time to shop. The "OMG WE MUST SELL THIS NOW LEST YE DIIIEEE!" counter was stuffed to overflowing and I scored a tuna steak for 19p, some fresh mozzarella for the same, and several snack packs of apple slices and grapes for 25p each :D And I scored at the Hot Deli counter too, where I got 5 stout coated chicken thighs for 50p and 4 large pork sausages for 80p :) The mozzarella and a couple of the chicken thighs were lovely with the pasta I was eventually able to cook. *grins*

Make tea and curl up on a warm, comfy sofa
Cook food (lamb chops with jacket spud will soon be miiiiine!)
Have good TV to watch (SHIELD and NCIS:New Orleans!)

I'm loving NCIS:NO, really like the characters. Some of the early eps were a bit ropey but have developed nicely as time has gone on. It's already been renewed for Season 2, so huzzah :D

I do have one confession though. I adore Lucas Black but I cannot take the accent seriously. I KNOW it's his real accent and is as genuine as it can be but there's something about it that just makes it sound fake to me. I suspect I've been too badly influenced by comic Southern characters in the past *hangs head*

* nothing serious, I suspect PMS :D

Last night I went with a bunch of work colleagues up to Prezzo's in Stevenage for a combined leaving do for 2 colleagues who have managed to escape our clutches. We were at the "finally figured out what we're eating, at the bar getting drinks" stage when the power went out. "That's novel!" we said and waited, and waited, and waited. We had no information from the staff or manager, beyond the fact it wasn't the restaurant's fault, as there were a small cluster of restaurants on the leisure park with the same problem.

When we got the word that the power company website estimated it would take two hours to repair the problem, we left. I felt so sorry for the staff, we were a party of 35 and that's a lot of tips to lose, but what else could we do? They couldn't serve us because they couldn't take payment and didn't know IF they'd be able to take payment. Also, not safe, even with the emergency lighting. I will go back tomorrow and pay for the drinks I had (I'd just been served when the power cut), although I heard they'd comped the drinks served at the table. Still, I'll pay for mine, fair do'.s

Anyway, most of us headed over to town and went into a Whetherspoons, where food was finally scoffed and booze could be quaffed in suitable quantities. A good time was had by all. I had a mahoosive mixed grill that was pretty darn good, and there may have been cider, although I only had 2 all night. And then I got a lift home and settled in to watch Wales v England, the first game in this year's Six Nations Championship. The game had been on the TVs in Whetherspoons - you're not going to believe this, but I managed to get out of there without seeing the final score! I suspected we'd won but I wasn't sure, so I was able to watch the game in ful more or less unspoiled :D Hee! And we won! WOO HOO!! *boogies on down*

On the not so good front, when I got home last night I turned on the heating...and nothing happened. Again. For the second time in 8 days. *siiiiighs* So now 'm stuck in this afternoon waiting for the engineer to show up. But at least I got an appointment for today, I was thinking I'd have to wait until Monday. Brr!! *burrows into sofa with hot water bottle and mug of tea*

Meee! I've got heating again! Hurrah! The only monthly payment I never begrudge is the one for British Gas Home Care. Saved my bacon yet again. And the engineer chap was not only early and efficient but, after he expressed disgust at the appalling way the heating system was put together and sympathised with me mightily, actually made a practical suggestion for getting it sorted long term. Nice guy.

Bonus was because he got here at 12.30 and was done by 1pm, I was able to go back to work which meant I ended up not having to use any annual leave for the whole afternoon. This made me almost as happy as having hot radiators :D

Major props to my colleagues at work too, on a day when we were rather short handed all round, for juggling rota duties and covering gaps to let me get home to sort things. I was glad I could go back in the afternoon, to be honest, and help out. I was even productive! :D

And now I have a 3 day weekend, courtesy of the day off on Monday I've booked to enable me to get sufficient amounts of sleep after the SuperBowl on Sunday night/Monday morning :D Ahhhhh, life is good!

Remember I said I've been sleeping a little poorly all week and that I might be worrying about something? Woke up yesterday with a big ball of anxiety lodged in my stomach, which made me promptly stop and think about WTF was going on. I was scheduled to go to a T'Pau gig last night, over near Milton Keynes (for non-UK types, that's not exactly nearby) and my car indicators have been iffy lately, as in "not always sure if they're going to work". A local trip to the football or the shop I can handle, I know the routes and I can make sure I stay safe. A drive in the dark to a place I've never been before that's not in the middle of a town centre? Ummmm, no. So I bailed on the gig.

And last night I slept like a log, right through.

Go figure!

(Car will be sorted, I know what it needs, I'm just waiting for pay day next Friday :) )

PS: not bothered too much about the gig. I may get my money back if they resold the ticket and I saw T'Pau twice last year and I am very sure they'll be touring again in the future so 's all good. Also I paid for this last summer, was originally scheduled to see them in the Autumn but the gigs got cancelled. Sometimes things just aren't meant to be!

Hello, lovely people! Gosh, it's amazing what an hour spent blowing up tanks will do to improve a mood :D

I have no idea why I was so grouchy this afternoon. I mean, I know what set me off, but it wasn't a big thing (someone shovelling a job off on to me they didn't want to do) so it shouldn't have bothered me as much as it did. I was getting upset on behalf of my team of Home Risk Assessors who are getting more work than realistically we can sustainably handle but it's not as if I'm doing it on purpose or the people who request things are being frivolous, it's just the way it is. I think something is bothering me, but my subconscious hasn't decided to tell me what it is yet. I've not been sleeping well this week, been restless as heck, so that with the Snarly McBiterson bit suggests I'm stewing on something. I'll work on it :)

Had to laugh (wryly) yesterday. Was in full snooze mode in the morning, did not want to get out of bed at all, until my brain finally did the mental thing of screaming in my ear that I WAS ON RECEPTION ROTA DUTY THIS MORNING AT 9AM WHICH WAS ONLY 15 MINUTES AWAY, YOU MORON!!! :P Ever seen a dormouse levitate out of bed? No? Pity you weren't here.

So I skidded in to work about 4 minutes late and naturally it was the day of my 1 to 1 with my line manager. Timing! Polite but pointed suggestions were made that I should be in before 9 on morning when 'm on Reception duty. Fortunately my boss has a sense of humour and is lovely to boot. Reason #24983984 I love my boss: she asked how I was, as I looked tired, and she was worried I was stressed over losing Rob T Furball and wanted to make sure I was doing OK :) Aww :)

*streeetches* Now I may wander off and blow some more things up. Or listen to a Kevin and Ursula Eat Cheap episode. Or even read, I have some good books that need to be read and returned to the library. It's good to have lots of nothing to do :D

My evening so far has consisted of going shopping to buy sink unblocker and lightbulbs, changing the lightbulb in the kitchen, and flumping on the sofa poking the internet.

I'm saving using the drain unblocker for later, I don't want to blow all my entertainment options at once :P

*falls over* Spent all day at work compiling some statistics for one of my managers. It's sort of an experiment, so there was much faffing about as I figured out what data I needed, what I could get and what I could use and how to lay it all out. But I got something and sent it off to him so we'll see if he likes where it's going. If he does, I'll have to produce two more data sets but after that, it'll be relatively easy to maintain it as I go.

*streeetches* There is going to be loafing and watching of "The Musketeers" tonight, I'm totally in the mood for good looking in men in leather trousers buckling their swashes :D

Also, woke up at 6am and couldn't get back to sleep. Really, brain, you've decided 6 hours is enough? Are you derangend? :P

...than 5am, it kinda means the mornings get cancelled due to lack of interest :P In fairness, it's Wildcard Weekend in the NFL, so it was exceptional circumstances! Today's games should finish a lot earlier :D

My (very) late start to the day meant I had to do a frantic dash to Morrisons for food shopping. The plus side is that not having time to browse means I tend to actually just buy what I need and nothing else. Good for the budget!

Which is important because I just renewed my season tickets for the NFL games at Wembley this year. My credit card is whimpering a smidge, although I will get half the money back from my friend Ayo who's coming with me. I'm still getting bills from the November holiday and I've yet to get the car fixed or pay this year's maintenance charges for the flat. Argle. Yeh, belt tightening is in order for the first couple of months, methinkest!

First of all, thank you for your kind words re: Rob T Furball, much appreciated. *hugs*

Overall 2014 was actually awesome in places, with a couple of dire lows towards the latter half of the year. Positives first!

I had two fantabulous holidays, one in May when I spent 12 days in Scandinavia. I visited Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo and had a great time in all 3 places. Would happily visit all 3 cities again, no problem at all.

Second holiday was in November, 2 weeks in California, again with jenni411. First up was Bouchercon 2014 in Long Beach, where I saw my friends and had oodles of fun :) And, possibly, came home with oodles of books...



( Disneyland )

Prior to that, in August, there was the unplanned and very much unwanted 4 day hospital stay when I went in for an infection-related problem and ended up being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. I'm happy to report that I'm on insulin now, it's being controlled and the next stage starts this month where the goal is to ween me off insulin and onto a different type of injection. So far so good. I had no issues with it while on holiday (occasional high here and there, there WAS cider after all!) and, apart from having to carry more crap in my hand luggage, had no issues with Customs on either side of the pond for carrying needles and whatnot, so that was good.

Biggest low of the year came right at the very end when I finally had to say goodbye to my beloved Rob T Furball. To be honest, he's been on borrowed time for about 12 months so I can't say it was exactly a surprise but bloody hell, I miss the little furry bugger. But it would have been selfish and cruel to try and prolong his life any further: he had stopped eating, wasn't interested in eating and was perilously close to being nothing but skin and bone. Still wanted to snuggle next to me but that's all he really wanted to do and that's all we did for the weekend before the last trip to the vets. I should get his ashes back next week from the pet crematorium and I'm going to scatter them under the hedge that runs down the side of my block of flats. He used to lurk in there when it was in full leaf and if I called him, I could hear mews coming from the hedge but not actually see him :) He didn't like it in winter when he couldn't hide in there any more!

Work ticked over steadily and is much the same. I have now been there for 2 years and change - doesn't time fly? Don't know how much longer I want to be there but there's a lot of plusses, mostly the people are great and I can walk to work, which saves a fortune on petrol. So we'll see.

And that's all the news that's fit to print!